My mantra these days

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything,but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

San Diego Family Getaway

Since I am on maternity leave, we wanted to take advantage of the fact that I don't have to request any time off to go away. Also since I'm on maternity leave, money is tight, so any trip we take needs to be easy on the wallet. Fortunately, we only live a couple hours away from San Diego! 

We packed up the kids and headed down south. The plan was to go to Sea World one day, spend the night, then go to the zoo. We had the truck packed to the brim! It was one night, but we were so full, you'd think we were staying until Christmas. I'm a big "just in case" person. "Well, you never know..." "I'd rather have it and not need it..." 

Seriously, it's a problem.

Kathryn is way too young to care about anything we did. She is a trooper though, and traveled very well! 

JJ, however, loved it! He is a big fan of animals and had been talking about going to see them for awhile. I'm not sure he remembers, but my brother and sister-in-law took him when he was just over a year old to the LA Zoo.  I loved watching his reactions to all the animals and seeing them so close. 

I really wish we could have stayed a few more days, but we really loved the time we did get.

Food for thought

When your kids are older and are looking back on their childhood, what do you hope they say about it and you as a parent? "Oh my mom always...." "I remember when my dad would...." "Our family was...."

How do you hope they will fill in these sentences and what do you need to do to make that happen? 

Totally Un-PC Mommy Confession: I Hate Breastfeeding

OK, so I know this post is going to be all about something people don't want to hear and I should probably watch out for angry mobs storming my house with fire and pitchforks. I know breastfeeding is best for the baby health-wise and bonding, etc. and that is why I do it, but if I'm being totally honest, I absolutely HATE it.

So far my experience with my newborn daughter has been just about the same as my previous experience with my now-3-year-old son. And I remember hating it then too. Here are my reasons:

1. The first month, give or take, is painful. My nipples hurt whenever the baby starts to eat. It usually subsides within a few seconds, but that initial latch is never pleasant. I also have a fast let-down and the baby will "bite down" to slow it down. Ouch, ouch, ouch!

2. Both the baby and I am getting used to a schedule and adjusting milk levels. I tend to overproduce (which is ironic to me, since I can't seem to keep up supply after stretching it to 6 months), which causes a lot of issues with the baby eating mainly leading to reflux problems. We deal with a LOT of spit up, which is both a cleanliness issue and also stresses me out because I get paranoid about how much they are actually getting to eat.

3. As convenient as it is always having milk ready to go, it is just as inconvenient being the ONLY source of nutrition for the baby. No matter where we are or what we are doing, I am the only one who can feed the baby. Wouldn't I love to sleep all night and have the hubby get up and feed her? Even if I did pump and had someone else give her a bottle, if I skip a feeding, my boobs get really full and extremely sore. Not. Fun.

4. Cluster feeding is the worst. My son did this occasionally, but my daughter is only 5 days old and we've already had two rounds of it. Feeding her on demand every hour is exhausting. It's like I just plant myself on the couch and without being able to move anywhere because I know I'm going to have to feed her again soon. As if I don't feel enough like a cow/milk machine...

No matter how I feel about nursing, I choose to do it exclusively because it is the healthiest choice for my baby. I know the long-term effects are worth going through every single item I mentioned above and even more that I probably am forgetting right now. It is also a financial decision. Babies aren't cheap, so with one less expense without having to buy formula is a BIG bonus for us.

Not to mention the selfish reasons I do it as well, as so humorously outlined here

June 27, 2013

So blessed...

Kathryn Grace

To a father no longer here

My dad has always had a huge impact on me and how I make my choices in life. There's no doubt about it that he is a great man.

This post, however, is about a dad no longer with us. My husband's dad passed away a little over 5 years ago from a all-too-quick acting brain tumor. It was a sad time for everyone.

He was my ice cream buddy; he was always ready with words of wisdom; he was wise and funny if not hidden behind a calm and still demeanor. 

So much of what makes my husband who he is comes from direct influence from his father. I only wish I had had more time to get to know him and that he could be around to meet his grand kids (the oldest grandchild was just a newborn when he passed).

I do like to think of him watching over his grand kids and that he perhaps had some sort of hand in us being chosen as their parents. 

We may have lost a good man on earth 5 years ago, but heaven gained a good soul to watch over us all.

The slooooow countdown to Maternity Leave

When I was pregnant with JJ, I took off for my Maternity Leave from work two weeks before he was due.  This time I decided I'd be OK to just give myself one week.

 

Big mistake.

 

I am way too uncomfortable and I cannot concentrate on anything except the fact that I am so uncomfortable and going to the bathroom every 20 minutes (has it always been that far down the hallway?) and so close to being done and oh, wait... is that a real contraction or a practice one? 

 

I really, really, really should not be here. I'm not doing anyone any good.

 

Oh, well. Two more days then I'm off.  Then this little girl can make her debut right away and I can enjoy every possible minute with her while I'm on leave.

 

Oh if it were a perfect world...